We are in the fast which is the preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Christ, Christmas. In their wisdom our forefathers chose the parable of the banquet for this season.  As we approach a major celebration and feast, we read this parable about invitations to a party, which is about how people respond to being invited to such a special occasion.

I think the children can help us here.

Discussion with Children on:-

Why they enjoy parties?

Who invites them? Usually a friend.

It is usually a celebration.

It is a chance to enjoy the company of others.

What happens if you accept and change your mind? Is this polite?

Now in the time of Christ’s ministry it was a major event to give a feast.  There was a great deal of care about the preparations and invitations were sent out. To decline such an invitation would be impolite. To accept the invitation and then not to go along when the servant came to collect you was a very grave insult. Yet that is exactly what happened in the gospel story.

What does this parable mean? It is not just about manners. It is more fundamental than that. The host is God Himself.  He invites everyone to come to join in His banquet, the feast of the Kingdom. Even though the invitation is from God Himself, some people still refuse. This is in part about some of the Jewish people who had all the benefits of the prophets, the law and the priesthood, yet who still did not follow God’s will.

St Ambrose, whose feast we have recently celebrated, saw wealth as an impediment, as is shown by the guest who wanted to inspect his land rather than come to the banquet. St Ambrose also interpreted the five yoke of oxen as the failure of some Jews to come into the Kingdom of Heaven based on their rigid observance of the five Books of the Law. Ambrose interpreted the newly married man as a heretic, wedded to false ideas of the truth. The story, no matter how one interprets the detail, depicts a series of worldly distractions.  Incidentally, in Jewish society at the time, being newly married meant that one was excused public duties for a while.  It may be that Christ is saying that an excuse in law does not qualify as an excuse in dealing with God.  It certainly is not right to equate a celebration with duty.

It would be self-congratulatory to claim that as Christians we are safely at the banquet. We may be tempted to think that we are better than others who are not so blessed as ourselves.  Such thoughts must be immediately dismissed from our minds. We are not to judge others. Furthermore, true participation in the Kingdom of God is not a matter of outward show but of inward truth. Some people can attend a party and pretend to have a good time while being critical or trying to do business deals when they were invited to celebrate with the host. My wife and I once threw a themed party which involved fancy dress and games. Someone wanted to come but they did not want to dress up. This person came and just looked odd. Surrounded by people dressed as chess pieces, playing cards, rabbits and Mad Hatters (it was an Alice in Wonderland party), a man in jeans and a t-shirt just appeared rather sad and out of place. Being physically present is not the same as being involved. Likewise, being in Church is not the same as joining in the prayers. All Christians need to attend and participate in the Liturgy.

Consider also who was present at the banquet in the end. Guests in the parable included: “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” (Luke 14:21).  Indeed there were also travellers from the countryside. In the same way heretical Samaritans, pagans and even Britons from the farthest parts of the known world were to enter the Church ahead of some of the first-called people of God. Salvation is offered and many decline it still. If people do not wish to accept the invitation then that is their own choice. God will not force them to come in.

What matters is that we accept the invitation; that we repent and truly follow Christ. This is clearer in the context of the whole chapter of the Gospel where Christ points out that we need to follow Him, aware of what we are doing. There is no room for excuses, we must be prepared to give up everything if called upon to do so. Christ has to come first.

We may see the banquet as a model for accepting Christ, for the gathering together of the faithful in the new age of the Kingdom and also in the Holy Liturgy itself. We remember that we eat a meal in the sacred and central act of the Church’s worship. It is with Christ’s body and blood that we are truly nourished and refreshed in the Messianic Banquet of the Eucharist. There is no conflict between the divine aspect of the Liturgy and the human. Here we receive Christ, obey Him and respond to His call as we look for an eternal salvation. In the human aspect, we do this in the context of a fellowship meal with our brothers and sisters in Christ and with our Heavenly Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit. This, therefore, is both a divine banquet and a great family celebration. The human and divine aspects of the Eucharist both build the Church and establish our unity in Christ.

Sadly some, at least, still make excuses. Faced with problems in life we can quietly forget that we are Christians and try to deal with things in a way that is apparently easy, but which always fails us in the end. We may also do something from wrong motives. We are capable of being led astray and then justifying it on some pretext.  An excuse is an attempt to blame something, it is not the same as a reason. We may fail in some matter and not be sinful because we failed for good reason.  In contrast we tend to make excuses when we have done wrong and then try to escape responsibility. We, in effect, delude ourselves as we make our excuses, but at the last we shall face God and be seen as we truly are. There will be no excuses then, just the truth.

We should live, therefore, as befits members of the Body of Christ. It was not wrong for the guest in the parable to love his wife; it was not wrong to try the oxen; nor to inspect the land purchased. What is wrong is to put them before our primary obligation to God Himself.  We should live our lives and fulfil all our obligations without using these as a defence against God. Our lives must be truly centred on Christ, seeking to do His will in all things.  In the words of St Theophan the Recluse: “Go to your commerce, but watch, so as not to sell your soul to the world through the acquisition of worldly goods. Go to your fields, fertilize your land, and sow seed in it, so that with its fruits you may strengthen your body; but especially sow the fruits of eternal life in the field. Preserve the garment received in Holy Baptism pure and spotless until the end of your life, so that you may be a worthy partaker of the heavenly bridal chamber, where only those who have a pure garment and burning lamps in their hands may enter.”

Let us, therefore, make no excuses but follow Christ in all things. Let us celebrate our salvation with joy and sit down at the banquet of the Lamb.